Gary Catronio, father of one of the deceased, was concerned when his daughter missed her 2 am curfew without communicating with him. The crash occurred at 1:45 am. Using the phone tracking app linked to her phone, Catronio saw that his daughter was stopped on the Expressway at 2:11 am. Shortly thereafter he and other family members drove to the deadly scene, which was already surrounded by police.

Kayla Mendoza, who caused the crash, tweeted these messages the day of the accident. Her Twitter account uses a different spelling of her name:

Twitter

Twitter

Miami New Times reports Mendoza was taken to the hospital after the crash and is in serious condition. She reportedly hasn’t been charged.

Update:

The Miami New Times reports that Mendoza’s family is claiming that their daughter’s Twitter was hacked prior to the crash and, thus, most if not all of her 5,000 tweets were planted. “We can’t say who is hacking her account, but if I knew her password I would shut it down,” cousin Luis Massey said.

Mendoza is in stable condition but the extent of her injuries are still unknown.

in a lot of countries.. and some states now.. they take away your license at first offense.. no questions asked, and you do not get it back (your license) forever.. the laws are changing.. just FYIing ya'll ...and in some other countries you get your hand cut off or the death penalty.. no excuse for driving drunk.. or stoned or high or on pills or while texting or putting on another layer of makeup to hide your hideous complexion, or fixing your weave because you do not have enough hair.. or being a woman driver.. lol..just kidding (sort of)

Wow! Aren't you all gullible little sheep?!?! Read everything my friends. She tweeted that at
8pm... that is almost 6 hours before the accident. Funny though how
almost everyone here rushes to believe the BS of the reporter here and condemn
her. You don't know a damn thing about the situation so don't be
so naive as to attempt to pass judgement.

This is typical sensationalism "journalism" that is little more than ambulance chasing in a different medium. You all want so desperately to believe everything as long as it is amazing and fantastic. In truth life is rather mundane and boring. Why is that so hard to accept?

I highly doubt that it was hacked months ago. What would be the point? Someone just deciding to take over someone's twitter account? Sounds like a clean up mission. Either way, I feel terrible for the family.

"The Miami New Times reports that Mendoza’s
family is claiming that their daughter’s Twitter was hacked prior to
the crash and, thus, most if not all of her 5,000 tweets were
planted. ”We can’t say who is hacking her account, but if I knew her
password I would shut it down,” cousin Luis Massey said."

yes, someone hacked it and planted most of her tweets for months ahead of time all leading up to a crash that i'm sure was also a setup. seriously? how in god's name are her family members capable of being functional members of society when they're stupid enough to believe anyone is going to believe that lie?

In an effort to head off some of the rabid 'guilty before proven innocent' rabble, her message was posted 6 hours before the accident. We have no idea if she was even still drunk at the time the accident took place later that morning.

I feel its only fair to look at this situation from both sides of the individuals who were affected by this truly tragic, and sad, incident.

It wasn't on purpose. We're all allowed to f up the big T. Let he/she without sin cast the first stone.

We all have to die one day. And Kaila surely feels the ache of reality. Like a sword between the eyes her life has flashed before her and it is seemingly over. I would like you to know Kaila Mendoza, I do not hate you. I do not hold a grudge on you for your actions. You are not alone honey. Even though you have hurt a family, the way the responses against you show that they weren't any better than you. You have an interesting journey ahead of you. Relationships come and go for ALL people in our lives. We are born alone and we die alone. Although it is very painful for EVERYONE, none as painful as YOU. You will feel their pain until the bones in your fingers wished you were them > and that is already since the moment you woke up.

I'm sure when you finally realized what was going on > it was already too late. And someone still loves you. Call him what you like > I like to say Muhammad Buddha Gandhi > many call it Jesus. I finalize the love from the UNIVERSE. Your path is not over > there is a plan for you. We've all been there in our 20's. Posting Dumbazz messages on FB. GOD forgives you. GOD loves you. GOD has a purpose for you. I do not hate you, and none of my thousands of friends (IRL) hate you. We ALL understand. We come from somewhere else. We come from a place this society will never know, but now you do, and there is a purpose for you sweety.

There are more dead people on the Earth than living people. Our planet is blind. Those who see are placed far enough apart so we can connect through our purpose > whatever that may be. Feel free to have someone message me, and I will write you, or I will listen. And you never have to be any more afraid than to find the flame within your heart that the UNIVERSE has blessed apon you. PAIN = LOVE. LOVE = PAIN. Fear is of pain. Death is the 2nd part of life.

Let her learn to care about consequences of irresponsible behavior in prison -- where life is nothing but suffering. Twenty years for vehicular manslaughter and coming out a wretch and a wreck is a fair warning.

@MrsMahatmaGandhi People need to stop Assuming that we all have the same experiences in life, we don't! Some of us are raised with different much different values. This, goes way beyond a typical mess up, two innocent lives were lost, you state not on purpose? Her tweet states she knew she was over her limit, that all of her faculties were not in place that alone should have given her pause to ask someone or connect with a cab home., if she could tweet, then she could dial a number., so yes it then comes with purpose that she acted because she stated this fact in her 2 drunk 2 care message., meaning whatever happens happens. It was the same day of the accident in which she tweeted this message. It is not for you to forgive and forget as it was not your child who is lost to you forever, and as for let he who is without sin let him cast the first stone, this is not about someone shoplifting nor bullying, you speak to us and tell us we have no right to admonish or that our thoughts are misplaced, yet you sit there as if you earned the highest chair and judge us all while stating what our thoughts should be, again that is not for you to decide., you are only in control of your thoughts. and you are no better than any of us nor any higher in humanity as you know not what contributions in life any of us have contributed as we are all gods children, all equal in his eyes and he has placed none of us any more superior than the other and it is those of us that think so who are using his word for personal gain and need to think about their actions before judging someone else's! While there may be many deceased people on this earth, at the moment we are discussing this one in particular. There have also been many messages sent out via every way possible, to teach about the dangers of being under the influence and driving whilst intoxicated, just about every township's police dept. has a car in its original accident state on display, not to mention one knows when entering their vehicle how difficult the drive will be if they attempt to drive while under the influence or alcohol. And yes I am better, as I've never attempted to nor have I taken anyone's life nor will I even for a moment allow you to lump me in your rhetoric as if I had. Also in the future before speaking of his grace or whomever you deem holy, you may want to leave out the profanity it just makes it come of a little more cleaner!

@Vanna_Huot@KailaMendoza Don't even answer them, its not worth your respect or time, they just showed their ability to hack which we all know garners jail time, as well as stupid is for them as stupid does, they have just stepped their feet into a serious crime that took place in which the internet was used prior to the accident therefore all of Kaila's internet material will be pulled and investigated including the one's posted here and when she denies keying these then they of course will be tracked then their joke won't be so cute to them anymore!

@JamesFred It's not an "accident". If you decide to drive while you're drunk, you should have foreseen the potential consequences of your dangerous behaviour. Kaila certainly should be held responsible for her criminal -- and outright stupid -- negligence. Let her do her time in prison -- at least 20 years.